reporting. i'm deborah feyerick at cnn world >>> a mad dash to the end of the race. president barack obama and governor mitt romney get ready for a face-off at this week's first debate. >>> plus a couple of big surprises from arnold schwarzenegger who talks candidly about his childhood and the housekeeper. >>> and an epic fail by the united states. after being up for a significant lead, the guys in the ryder cup lose big, berman. >> it was a disaster. complete meltdown. well, still, good morning. and welcome to october, everyone. this is "early start." i'm john berman in washington this morning. >> and i'm sir riesirita simon. >>> president barack obama and mitt romney square off wednesday night in denver. both trying to lower expectations practically gushing over one another, but new jersey governor chris christie is going against the grain and setting the bar high for the republican nominee. >>er time mitt romney has been confronted in this campaign with one of these moments, he has come through in a debate and performed extraordinarily well laying out his vision very clearly and also co